Notwithstanding the revolution in digital communications and digital transmission/viewing of documents, hardcopy printed media—printing onto tangible sheets of paper or labels—remains essential for many purposes. Hardcopy printing may be accomplished via multiple types of devices, including thermal printers, inkjet printing, and laser printers. For all hardcopy media and printing methods, an important objective is a high level of visual clarity of the final printed output. When a document is intended for conventional, narrative text or images to be read/viewed by a person, visual clarity ensures the document is both readable and aesthetically appealing.
Applicant has identified many deficiencies and problems associated with existing printers. For example, existing printers do not provide accurate determination of print quality, and/or fail to improve the quality of printed images.
In addition, existing printers fail to provide proper print registration. “Proper print registration” means that the image occurs in the precise position as intended (an ideal position). Conversely, the image is not in register if any element of the image is misaligned or displaced, especially in reference to the edge of the print medium. Print registration errors can occur due to printer set-up and differences in print media. For example, the differences between printers and mechanical tolerances may cause the printed image not be aligned properly in the printhead direction (left to right) (i.e., the printed image may be horizontally offset such that an element (part of) the printed image is too close to the edge of or outside a print area of the print medium). During the printing process, the print media may also drift horizontally in the printhead direction (left and/or right). In these situations, there is a risk of the printed image being horizontally offset as compared to the ideal position, causing the printed image to no longer be machine-readable. The failed printed media needs to be reprinted, print media re-aligned, and/or printer configuration(s) changed before further printing, resulting in lost time and materials. Further, when printing barcodes, the printed barcode may include a distortion. The distortion may occur if a user uses an excessive thermal printhead temperature in an attempt to obtain better graphics and for other reasons. None of existing printers have been successful in reliably and consistently printing images that are in register.